The Whitney Point senior who this week became the toast of Section 4 lacrosse, who has arrived at a confluence of supreme skill, instinct and execution, ran into some snags while acclimating to the sport as a little guy.

“Honestly, I didn’t like it at first. I hated it,” he said of his first season of youth lacrosse after transitioning from T-ball. “My dad told me, ‘Stick with it, you’re doing well.’ But I couldn’t pass or catch to save my life.

“And then one day in practice I caught a pass, went down the field, cradled and scored and I was like ‘I love lacrosse!’ ”

“I was a mess, barely on the field, just kind of standing there getting in the way and everyone yelling at me,” Davis said. “I was really horrible. Second year, it clicked.”

He has continued to flourish.

On Wednesday at Whitney Point’s Tymeson Field, Davis’ four-goal, three-assist harvest in a 9-6 win against Watkins Glen left him a 462-point total in five varsity seasons. That bested by one the haul rung up by previous Section 4 record-holder Shane Majewski, a 2015 graduate of Johnson City.

The record-setting day marked his seventh game this spring with seven or more points, sixth with at least four goals. Four times he has produced two-digit points.

How? Superior athleticism would appear the foundation.

He stands 5 feet, 8 inches and weighs 170 pounds, not overpowering but more than adequately sturdy. He is straight-ahead fast, quick and shifty diagonally and laterally— slippery, elusive, a perfect pain in opponents’ keisters to throw clamps on.

Defensive double-teams are an oft-employed option, which is fine and dandy with a selfless distributor whose vision and passing skills so frequently and successfully counter that tactic. Defend him man-up and watch his quickness and savvy direct him on a path to his intended position.

His name and jersey number precede him to the field, as in opposing coaches’ shouts of “There HE is! There HE is!” or “1’s over there!”

Oh, about that jersey number.

Presently so fitting given the nature of his mid-week achievement, he tugged No. 1 over the shoulders because it just plain fit.

“Eighth grade, that was the only jersey that fit me. I was so small, I had to take the smallest jersey,” Davis recalled.

His call to the varsity came when he was 5-4 and 125, in a contact sport, at times a collision sport.

“Oh, I got knocked around quite a bit,” he said. “Everyone took advantage of me, but just take it and keep on playing.”

He put up 57 points as an eighth-grade starter, no small feat under any circumstances but one enhanced in significance given that squad was something short of stellar.

“I could see what was coming,” said Point coach Trevor Erb, “but I wasn’t sure his body was going to get big enough. He had to put some pounds on.”

Then came 83 points as a freshman, 119 as a sophomore, 121 last season. He holds Section 4’s record for points in a game, confounding Oneonta defenders for 19 his 10th-grade season. The first day of May he rose to No. 10 on New York’s all-time points list.

Interestingly, lacrosse does not run in the Davis family. Andy said he is the first to head that athletic route. Ironically, it is not his most beloved sport.

“Honestly, I’m playing lacrosse in college and I love lacrosse, but football might be my favorite,” he said. “I love playing football, I love watching football, everything about football. I think that’s helped me a lot in lacrosse, because you get hit in football every play. Just take the hit and get up.

“And as quarterback, I see the defense, I read the defense. I think that directly translates to how I play lacrosse because I sit at X, dissect the defense and try to get everyone else open to get the goals.”

In October 2017, junior Davis quarterbacked Whitney Point to a 68-56 win over the combined forces of Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour, in the process matching a state record with eight touchdown passes — eight! — and 330 yards. That night, he took 26 rushes for 206 yards.

Uh-huh.

It’ll be lacrosse he’ll pursue in college, at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where he’ll join a program that last season won a school-record 17 games and advanced for the first time to the NCAA Division II final four.

But the conclusion of regular-season play and postseason opportunity remains for the Golden Eagles and their humble leader.

The question tossed Davis’ way in the wake of Wednesday’s effort: Why you standing here as Section 4’s all-time points leader?

“I’ve put in a lot of work and I give a lot of credit to my teammates,” he said. “Individually, all summer for years I’d be out in my yard shooting at the goal, paying the extra money and spending all my extra time going to tournaments. I really bought in and loved it, loved the whole thing. The hard work is paying off.”

“He is a very quiet, reserved, wonderful young man. He honestly takes it in stride. He doesn’t want all the hype, doesn’t want all the lights on him, all the glory. He’s just happy to share the glory. That’s why he’s so unselfish giving all those assists.”